Now that the General Assembly session is officially closed for the summer, the possibility of DC United coming to Maryland is stuck hanging like a wet bathing suit on a clothesline, and instead, sunny skies are opening for a different prospect: a special report on WashingtonPost.com noted that we may end up with a new law school in its place. Recently, a study was inserted into the state’s budget to look into the potentiality of building a new branch of the University of Baltimore’s law school in PG County. The report is to be submitted to the legislature by September 1.
No offense, but there are already a multitude of law schools in the greater D.C. area, not to mention an overflow of unemployed lawyers in this economy. What we need now, at least, is to generate more revenue for the state, not for a private organization that will take its graduates 3 years after the buildings are completed to even start thinking about aiding the community. But that’s just my opinion.

United players Ben Olsen and Devon McTavish will be at the White House today for the annual Easter Egg Roll.

They’ll be reading to kids, playing soccer with them and signing autographs. This is the kind of community outreach United players do all the time, and it was the kind of thing they were hoping to do more often in Prince George’s County. But even though they’ll be playing elsewhere, we hope they’ll still be able to reach out to the children of Prince George’s County once and a while, because they do great work in the community.

There’s an interesting take on the whole soccer stadium issue over at The Baltimore Sun.

They make the argument that if Governor O’Malley can seek eminent domain (and in the process spend tens of millions) of to save a dying industry (horse racing), what’s the problem with spending a couple hundred thousand to explore the potential economic benefits of MLS soccer? It’s a great question, but unfortunately we’ll never know, at least not for Prince George’s County.

As we blogged about yesterday, it’s time to move on and focus on another Maryland location for our beloved United.

Well, by now you’ve probably heard the news, but in case you haven’t, United’s move to Prince George’s County was effectively killed by the County Council. We think it’s strange that they refused to at least learn the facts before they made up their minds, but that’s life. We need to move on.

Thejockeying has already begun among neighboring counties who want United, with Montgomery and Frederick being named and I suspect we’ll hear something soon. Stay tuned….

By a vote of 17 to 7, the House Appropriations Committee has given a favorable vote to a bill allowing the Maryland Stadium Authority to study the feasibility and economic cost of building a soccer stadium in Prince George’s County for D.C. United. But first committee members further amended the bill to reconfirm–really, truly, they mean it– that nothing in the measure would obligate the state to spend a dime more than the study nor commit the state to ultimately building the stadium.

It is not yet clear if the full House intends to attempt to take the bill up twice before the end of the day, as would be necessary for the body to give approval to the bill before tonight’s crossover deadline. After tonight, bills that pass one chamber are not guaranteed a hearing before the other chamber. D.C. United President Kevin Payne said he believes the study, which Stadium Authority officials estimated would cost $150,000 to $200,000, is a good idea. “We hope everyone will agree it makes sense to spend a little time to find out if it makes sense. That’s all we ask.”

This is great news, but it is only the first step. There’s a lot of work to go still. The next thing we need to focus on is call Prince George’s County Council. Vamos United!

House Bill 1282 will be voted on tomorrow, Monday March 30th, at 11am! Start calling the House Appropriations Committee and tell them you support the bill and United in Prince George’s County! Click here for the list of who to call.